decoys for noob?

[Moose-head]

I noticed that the local sporting goods store is closing out some decoys for a great price.  I am preparing for a move across country soon.  I am a total noob to turkey hunting but am interested in learning.  What combination of Tom/hen dekes would be good for starters? 

[BurleyDog]

where are you going to move?

Honestly I think that just 1 decoy is best for beginners and that should be a hen. I've personally killed 8 nice toms over a crappy looking blowup decoy from WalMart (all on public land).

The single most IMPT thing is placement. Do not set the decoy where the Tom will be looking in your direction if he's looking at the decoy.  I can't overstate this - this is the single biggest mistake I see.
Put the decoy in a location where it will focus your birds attention away from you.

I hope you slay em!

[turkeydancer]

 

I usually place mine out about 10 to 15 yards and about 10 to 15 yards on the other side of me from where I expect the tom to approach (so it draws the tom past your position and his attention should be on the deke (vs you).  Start out with a hen as mentioned and have her looking away from your position as the tom coming in will want to mount her from behind and therefore will be facing away from you.  A hen will also work well with a jake or small bodied full strut tom deke ... place them facing your position as he will want to get in their face and will again be facing away from you.  Remember that the purpose is to keep the attention on the dekes not you and they have great vision except just behind them, especially if they are fanned out. 

 Although it's said that when they hear a hen or tom that they expect to see a hen or tom, my experience is that earlier in the season the breeding groups will most likely shy away from other birds (aka your dekes).   Therefore I usually won't use a deke the first few weeks of the season.  I think it is more important to have good camo and limit your movement.   
 

[Battle Ready]

Ive placed deeks in locations were as I thought the bird may come in, hoping I wouldnt be seen...then a bird comes in exatly were it shouldnt. When they do, just wait for him to parade around the deek...make your move when he cant see you..and hopefully he wont. Bang.

Owning deeks is like having arrows in your quiver..can you ever have to many? That way you can choose how many you take for givin phases of the hunt..or to look totally cool to someone who doesnt have a deek. Ive got the cheapies, up to the real taxidermy types, shot birds on all types..so I dont know if one is effective more than the other. I know this however, when a tom comes in to a sweet sounding bird, he wants to see something where hes expecting something to be...no different than elk or deer. Its just a good thing turkeys cant smell or it would be alot like the elk that have come in and got a wiff of me...then poof! 

[turkeydancer]

Quote: "when a tom comes in to a sweet sounding bird, he wants to see something where hes expecting something to be ..."

One reason you don't want to set your dekes too far out from your setup location ... not natural to hear a bird at the clearings edge and see the deke 40 yards out ... just not natural.  You also don't need many dekes.   At most a couple of hens and a tom or jake deke is more than enough.

That said ... usually I try to setup so when the tom shows up, he is less than 40 yards from my location and harvestable immediately if he changes his mind about coming in.  When you can do your setup like that, a deke isn't really necessary at all.

 I've also called toms multiple times well over 600 yards across open fields without the use of dekes.  More important to trust your camo, limit your movement, call sparely using the good old turkey calling rhythm, and use his natural curiosity and sex drive against him.  I've even called a tom in while sitting on a wide open slope with my son ... harvested the bird at less than 10 yards .... now that's fun there!

        
   

[deaner]

this april i had a couple decoys out and got a jake in first couple hours... the next day i added a couple of the inflatable ones.  called in a good gobbler and right before i could pull the trigger he started looking at the decoys real hard then turned around and bolted.   after failing to call him back i went and looked at them from where he was standing and saw that the sun shining on them made them glow like a freshly waxed truck.  pretty sure thats what spooked him.  id suggest skipping the inflatble dekes and spending a couple extra bucks on ones that will not shine in the sun like that

[oldcamper]

I plan to get into turkey hunting next year, this is good info.